The GALILEO planet: the official newsletter of GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online [Summer 2002]

The Official Newsletter of GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online Summer 2002

New and Improved! GALILEO Gets a Makeover

by Tim Brown, GALILEO Marketing Specialist

GALILEOs users will soon suggestions for improvements

discover a dramatic change in will make GALILEO easier to

GALILEO: a completely use.

redesigned homepage and new

The new page reorganizes

functionalities. According to the way databases and other

Judy Kelly, Director of Virtual resources are presented

Library Development, the through GALILEO. The

homepage redesign has been database categories on the left

a priority during the past year. side of the current page are

As the GALILEO project has replaced by tabs across the top

evolved and more resources of the new page, grouped

have been added, the according to more intuitive

homepage has outgrown its subject categories. One exciting

ability to easily connect users new feature enables

with the right resource. The experienced users to go directly

new page features subject tabs, to specific databases by name

bright colors, and multiple instead of moving through

starting points.

multiple pages to find A prototype of GALILEOs new homepage can be viewed

The new homepage databases; this Find in the demo system at http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/demo.

underwent two rounds of Databases feature will

usability testing. Volunteers decrease the amount of time hierarchical categories and links on the new home page;

from GALILEO libraries tested users spend locating favorite include try first recom- according to Judy Kelly, these

prototypes of new homepages resources.

Based on mendations.

links drive the new or

with their patrons, and their recommend-ations from the

The

EBSCOhost unfamiliar user to our two large

feedback has determined which GALILEO reference committee, Academic Search Premier and suites of databases providing a

features are included in the final GALILEOs subject menus have ProQuest Research Library lot of full-text on most any topic.

design.

The testers been revised into more databases retain Quick Start If users would like to learn more

about theGALILEO system, a

September 2002 is Get the Password Month!

link on the main page leads to the GALILEO tutorial in the

Online Library Learning Center.

September 2002 is Get the Password Month in GALILEO libraries! Get the Password Month is intended to increase awareness and understanding of GALILEO

Another new feature in GALILEO is GALILEO Express Links, a direct linking function that allows users to bookmark favorite databases. A map pin

on a local level throughout Georgia. During

icon next to each menu entry

July 2002, all GALILEO libraries will receive a complete publicity packet containing activities and materials designed around the theme, Get the Password to Georgias World of Information. These materials will

allows users to create personal links to favorite databases; once a link has been created in their browsers bookmarks, users are able to go directly to this database during

assist GALILEO librarians and media

subsequent

GALILEO

specialists to promote password use among their patrons, and will contain ideas and suggestions for celebrating Get the Password Month throughout September.

sessions, bypassing the homepage. However, links contain the same screening measures (continued, page 6)

So mark your calendars now for September

2002: Get the Password Month in Georgia!

GALILEO Planet Page 1

Judy and Jaynes Big Adventure

by Judy Kelly, Director of Virtual Library Development

When Jayne Williams, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Library and Customer Information Services for the University System of Georgia, took me aside earlier this year and asked if I would accompany her to the Carter Center to give a demo of GALILEO to Jimmy Carter, my first reaction was, I wish my parents were alive! My mother especially was a big fan of Jimmys; in other words, Yes!
After much preparation, Jayne and I arrived on April 18 at the Carter Center Executive Office Building, which is on the grounds of the public Carter Library and Museum. President Carter was just descending the stairs with a small group of men. Secret Service agents took up positions behind and in front of the group as they moved, communicating with each other via headsets about the Presidents movements within the building. I believe they assessed us as no threat!
We were shown into a small office with a computer on a table. President Carter came in and was introduced to us. We, of course, told him we were very honored to have this opportunityand then he thanked us for taking the time to do this!
While the computer was being prepared, we examined a notebook of GALILEO screenshots that had been prepared for this visit. I showed him the current

homepage and told of its options, mentioning that we were revising it to make it easier for users. I then told him about some of the many databases I thought he might be interested in. From Academic Search Premier, I showed him an article from Inc.

volunteer that I had six books by or about him checked out from the University of Georgia library!
Jayne told the President how GALILEO began five years ago as an initiative of the Board of Regents for the

President Jimmy Carter and Jayne Williams

magazine about a manufacturing business in Plains, Georgia; I also included a BioScience article on the loss of mangrove habitat, mentioning that Cuba seemed to have fared better in this regard than most other countries. Were going there next month, he said. I then showed him the compare Bibles feature of the Bible in English database; he said with a smile, I can tell youve thought a lot about me. I didnt

University System institutions

and how GALILEO has

expanded to include private

academic libraries, technical

colleges, K-12 schools, and

public libraries. She gave him

other background information

about how the project had

evolved, and told him about

GALILEOs

national

reputation as a leader in

information technology and

information access.

GALILEO URL Change Reminder
As previously announced, the GALILEO URL is changing. The use of the peachnet domain name is being gradually phased out in favor of the usg domain name in the University System Office web pages. Currently, both galileo.peachnet.edu and galileo.usg.edu resolve correctly to the GALILEO homepage, and both versions will continue to do so for the next year. Both versions of the galileo2 URL work as well. Although users will still be able to use either form of the URL, from now on, GALILEO communications will begin to refer to the URL galileo.usg.edu. GALILEO libraries may also want to change their own references to the URL; beginning on July 1, 2002, users of the old URL are redirected to an intervening page with a message regarding the change.

When the computer was ready for demonstration, we showed President Carter the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG), pointing out the Baldy database and Civil Unrest in Camilla, Georgia, noting that all the DLG databases are available to anyone on the Internet without a password required. The Jimmy Carter Presidential Diary database was our next stop. Choosing the date, April 18, 1979, we saw:
7:32 a.m. 8:32 a.m. The President motored from The Big House [on Sapelo Island] to Nanny Goat Beach. The President went jogging and swimming.
10:28 a.m. 2:46 p.m. The Presidential Party went sea trout fishing.
I said, It looks like you had a good day. Immediately remembering the day twenty-five years earlier, he laughed. Sometimes they even kept track of how many fish I caught. Jayne mentioned our hopes to enrich the database in the future by linking associated audio and video clips to entries in the diary.
As our hour was coming to a close, Jayne thanked President Carter again for letting us show him some of GALILEOs features. After he left for his office, we packed our gear with our heads in the clouds. President Carter was completely charming and an impressive individual; he was engaged and interested in what we had to show him. During the past five years, Ive taught a good many folks, of all ages and degrees of experience, about GALILEO. I have no doubt that my pupil on the afternoon of April 18, 2002 was the quickest study Ill ever encounter! As a matter of fact, after this experience, I guess I might as well retire.

GALILEO Planet Page 2

Thanks for the Memories; or,

How I Became a Librarian and Saw the World

by Judy Kelly, Director of Virtual Library Development

News of my departure has reached some parts of GALILEO-land. Some seem shocked. (Shocked! I thought youd always be here was one persons response). On July 31, 2002, I will be retiring from my position as Director of Virtual Library Development. Im movin on upwell, up North, that isto start a whole new phase of life with my fianc in Virginia.
Working on the creation and development of GALILEO has been the high point of my career, a career that started over thirty years ago when I fell into librarianship. High school English teaching jobs were hard to come by in Iowa City, Iowa, where I needed to be for another year. A friend told me about the Library School. I checked it out and, well, here I am thirty years later. Cue the violins!
My first professional position (pre-computer, pre-

OCLC for Interlibrary Loan, pre-AACR2, pre-historic!) was in Saskatoon as Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian at the University of Saskatchewan. Sleuthing out obscure research on musk ox, Louis Riel, and Tibetan scriptures proved an excellent grounding in bibliographic detective work. It was a simpler time, even in the complicated environment of a research library. Topicfocused periodical indexes, subject bibliographies, and the card catalog were usually comprehensible, even if cumbersome to use.
Along the way from Saskatoon to Athens, I took a bit of a detour around the world for several years, including a three-year stint at the National Library of Papua New Guinea. I began as the Acquisitions Librarian and after a year became the PNG Collection

Introducing MrSID

Hes a very helpful fellow. He pops up when you need him most to lend a helping hand. Hes MrSID! Who is this mysterious chap? Hes a browser plug-in from LizardTech, and if you find yourself browsing online census images in AncestryPlus youll be glad you made his acquaintance.
MrSID is very easy to find. If you try to download Census images in AncestryPlus a small window will pop up prompting you to download the free plug-in. The download process is fast and easy, and once installed the plug-in makes manipulation of the online images much easier. Besides the census images, MrSID is also used to view AncestryPluss map collection, as well as many digital images found in the Digital Library of Georgia collection. And wherever he shows up, his presence is always welcome.
Public libraries are encouraged to download the MrSID plug-in in advance on all public computers with AncestryPlus access.

Librarian. What a

collection that was! It

included materials on all

aspects of the country

flora, fauna, discovery

and exploration by the

outside world, history,

politics, culture, and

language. The library

clientele

was

remarkable as well. You

cant judge a book by its

cover, nor can you

judge a library patron or

worker from the quill in

his nose or the tattoos

on her face. (Decades

passed before the

number of reference

desk patrons at UGA

sporting tattoos and

piercings surpassed

those I encountered in

PNG.)

After I returned to the

United States, I interviewed with

UGA, where the librarys first

automated system, MARVEL,

was evolving into GALIN. I

could tell this would be a place

where I could learn a lot, and I

accepted the position,

eventually becoming Head of

Reference in the University of

Georgias Main Library.

For the past four years I

have worked with GALILEO and

the Board of Regents.

GALILEO has come a long way

from its debut on September 21,

1995. Its resources and users

have grown in number and

diversity. For me, GALILEO

has meant being able to

participate in a revolution that

has truly empowered

information seekers.

Those of you who make

things work in the libraries of

Georgia are special people; it

has been my privilege to work

with you, even if it may have

been only in the virtual sense.

For those of you Ive worked

with on many committees and

projects over the years, thank

you for your participation and

Judy Kelly and Friend
contribution to making GALILEO the envy of so many outside the state of Georgia. Its not just the breadth of resources in GALILEO that people remark on, but also the cooperation between diverse user communities at which they marvel.
It is now time for me to take another path. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carters book called Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life emphasizes how [later life] offers the chance to be bolder than ever before and to do worthwhile things that have been avoided or postponed for five or six decades. They have encouraged and inspired me to look forward to future opportunities. It was such an honor to meet President Carter, and showing him GALILEO was the icing on my professional cake. Its a sweet memory, but one of many of my friends and colleagues (and library users!) in Georgia that I will always cherish. Thanks for the memories. Cheers!

GALILEO Planet Page 3

Baldy in The Digital Library of Georgia

For over thirty years, cartoons and to make them

Georgians enjoyed a special available for research both at

treat with their morning coffee the repository and via the

and newspaper: between 1946 Internet. In preparation for the

and 1982, newspaper readers project, archivists at the

encountered the wit and insight Russell Library consulted

of editorial cartoonist Clifford H. institutions such as the

Baldy Baldowski, one of National Archives, John F.

Georgias most astute political Kennedy library, the National

observers during the Cold War Archives of Canada, Ohio

era. The Digital Library of State University, and the State

Georgia (DLG) has recently Historical Society of

announced the production of Wisconsin.

Baldy Editorial Cartoons, 1946-

Sheila McAlister, Digital

1982, 1997: The Clifford H. Metadata Coordinator for the

Baldowski Collection at the Digital Library of Georgia, has

Richard B. Russell Library, a worked extensively on the

database showcasing Baldys Baldy cartoon project.

editorial drawings. Based Uploading the images on the

alternately at the Augusta Web is only a partial

Chronicle, the Miami Herald, and consideration; preservation of

the Atlanta Constitution, Baldy the collection is also a high

produced thousands of cartoons priority. As this collection is

during his career. Dating from unique, efforts needed to be

1946 to 1982 and 1997, Baldys made to help preserve the

cartoons depict the local, cartoons themselves and also

national and international news to provide continued access to

of his day; his work is a valuable their intellectual content. To

source of information about the lengthen the life of these

Civil Rights Movement, political original works of art, the staff

activities in Georgia and the houses each cartoon in a

growth of Atlanta, Watergate and special acid-neutral, lignin-free

other national issues as well as folder that also provides

This 1949 cartoon, entitled Panhandling Each Other,

the Cold War, the Vietnam enough support to prevent

depicts John Q. Public and Uncle Sam.

conflict, and Middle East bending and folding. An

tensions.

interesting fact about the software obsolescence. of the day, and access related

In 1994 Clifford Baldowski cartoons is that, while the McAlister explains that each Baldy cartoons. In this way, the

began to donate his cartoon images in the newspaper and digitized cartoon has a cartoons can be useful for

collection to the Richard B. on the Web are small in watermark on it to hamper students of all ages, bringing to

Russell Library for Political appearance, the original unauthorized usage. Although life the contemporary readers

Research and Studies at the drawings are quite large researchers need permission perception of now-remote

University of Georgia. By 1999, usually around 30 x 24 from the Russell Library in history. The Baldy Editorial

Baldy had donated centimetersand require order to publish images from Cartoons database provides a

approximately 3,000 cartoons; more storage space than might the collection, use is school rare glimpse into the cultural

he willed his remaining collection be assumed.

projects is permissible and and political issues of the cold

of approximately 4,000 cartoons

Each cartoon is encouraged.

war era, both regionally and

to the library. In response to this microfilmed for preservation

Researchers are able to nationallyno issue of any

important gift, the library began purposes because digital files enter search terms, such as the importance escaped Baldys

a project to preserve the original are subject to hardware and names of politicians or issues observation.

Complete

documentation about the

project, including technical

Share Your Activities!

information as well as frequently asked questions, can be found at the projects URL:

http://dbs.galib.uga.edu/bald/

Help teachers use GALILEO! GALILEO is interested in knowing about classroom activities using GALILEO which have been

html/bald_basic_search _default.html.

developed and implemented by media specialists and teachers

in your school. If you would like to share your ideas, please

send an email to galileo.planet@usg.edu.

GALILEO Planet Page 4

Get Smart with

A Fond Farewell

AccessScience

by Rand Raynor, GALILEO Support Specialist

Lets get something straight. Science has never been my strong point. When I was assigned a science project in eighth grade Earth Science class I panicked. For starters, I didnt even know what Earth Science meant. I assumed it had something to do with Bunsen burners and sulfur. Precipitates. I didnt know what the heck a precipitate was but it sure looked cool! When my high school science teacher asked me to explain the Big Bang theory I calmly stated, M-80s produce a much bigger bang than the average firecracker. Is it any wonder that I wasnt accepted by MIT?
Things might have been much different if I could have gone to my public library, logged onto GALILEO, and gone into AccessScience. The online version of McGraw-Hills Science and Technology Encyclopedia, AccessScience is a treasure trove of scientific articles and news. A glance at

the

AccessScience

homepage shows links to

science & technology in the

news, biographies, study

guides, essay topics, and

more. The website is built

around thousands of in-depth

articles that can be browsed

by topic or alphabetically, all

accompanied with links to

other articles for further study.

There is a Student Center that

further organizes the articles

into very logical study guides.

Thousands of entries fill

AcccessSciences biography

section,

organized

alphabetically as well as by

subject. There are even

sections for Nobel Prize and

Fields Medal winners.

Looking for the periodic table?

Look no further than the Data,

Tables and Tools section. Its

colorful and its cool! You can

click on each individual

element for more information

(all right, I admit, Im hooked

on interactive tables).

Thinking back to Mr.

The members of the GALILEO staff recently said sad goodbyes to Rand Raynor, our former GALILEO Support Specialist and one of the most loved members of the OIIT staff.
Rand began on the OIIT Customer Services helpdesk in early 1999. After a year of fielding problems ranging from accounting errors to network outages, he joined the GALILEO Support Services staff and began working with librarians, database vendors, and GALILEO users in his own energetic and charming way. He later took on the added responsibility of GALILEO training, and through his regular classes in Macon and other sessions around the state he brought out the hidden treasures in GALILEO for more users to see.
Its hard for any organization to contain the kind of joie de vivre that Rand
Meisners Earth Science class, this site would have made learning fun!
AccessScience is one of many online versions of comprehensive text resources, along with the likes of the

<LOL> by Philip McArdle, GALILEO Services Coordinator

Rand Raynor

brought daily to our offices, and

it was inevitable that Rand would

move on to bigger challenges.

Rand now lives in Portland,

Oregon, and is the co-founder of

Funland Films, a television

commercial

production

company. Attention Oregon

librarians: dont you think that

brand new branch deserves a TV

spot?

Grove Dictionary of Art, and Encyclopaedia Britannica. Containing all of the information of their print counterparts, these databases have the added benefit of being updated regularly, sometimes on a daily basis, with timely, topical, newsworthy information. In fact, these databases make me want to go back and take another stab at high school physics! And if you believe that, I have a stockpile of Cobalt Id like to sell youatomic weight 58.9332 amu, boiling point 2927 C (5300.6 F, 3200.2 K). Man, Im smart!

AccessScience

is

available at Georgias public

libraries, technical colleges,

and University System of

Georgia

institutions.

AccessScience is also

available at American

Intercontinental University,

Covenant College, DeVry

Institute, Piedmont College,

and Shorter College.

GALILEO Planet Page 5

GALILEO for Kids

by Karen Minton, Virtual Library Development Specialist

The notion of childhood developed as recently as the seventeenth century. Before that, according to Philippe Aris in his seminal work Centuries of Childhood, children were simply little adults. Since the Middle Ages, children have become increasingly separate from adults, until today our library shelves are packed with books on child rearing and childhood education as well as childrens literature.
Many GALILEO libraries have long recognized that children are not little adults and that there is a need for a GALILEO website that is attractive to kids. Therefore, planning for a new GALILEO childrens page is now underway, with expected rollout during late summer. The GALILEO childrens page is being created with input from the GALILEO K-12 Advisory

Committee,

Georgia

Department of Education staff

members, and GALILEO staff

members, who are working

with a Web design company

that has extensive childrens

interface experience.

A main concern with

developing a childrens site is

deciding what age group to

target. Children make sharp

distinctions between a

graphical interface appropriate

for their age and one targeted

for younger or older children.

The GALILEO website will be

geared toward children in the

third through the sixth grades.

In these grades, students are

able to read the content in

GALILEO databases and are

close enough in age to accept

and use the same interface.

The task of a web designer

will be to take the content for

children in GALILEO and pour

it into a graphical environment

suitable for children in these grades. The content will include Searchasaurus from EBSCO and KidQuest and JuniorQuest from ProQuest, which contain over 250 full-text titles; the content will also include links to free resources.
Many would-be childrens writers have made the mistake of thinking that writing for children is simply a matter of using a smaller vocabulary and shorter sentences. Librarians and media specialists know that a childrens book is more than just a simplified adult book. Web designers also make the mistake of dumbing down, according to Jakob Nielsen, web design and usability guru (Dont Dumb Them Down, Newsweek, April 22, 2002). His usability studies with children offer insights to ways children navigate and what attracts them to a website.

Nielsen also found that while extensive text can be a problem for children, they are more willing than adult users to read instructions. Theyre used to being learners. A summary of the Nielsen study and a list of the websites used in the study can be found on his website at www.useit.com/ alertbox/20020414.html.
As the childrens page prototypes are evolving, the development team is noting the discovery in the Nielsen study that children are willing to scrub the screen with the mouse to find clickable areas. As Marc Kaufman, Technology Consultant in Educational Technology at the Georgia Department of Education and member of the GALILEO childrens web page development team says, The hunt is part of the joy for kids.

Meet the Staff!
Deborah Shackelford

Deborah Shackelford is

the Administrative Secretary

for Library Services in the

Athens Office for Information

and Instructional Technology

(OIIT). Deborah ensures that

everything runs smoothly in

the Library Services office.

She joined GALILEO four

years ago, and has worked

on various projects for both

GALILEO and for GIL.

Deborah enjoys working for

GALILEO: The most gratifying

aspect of my job is being able

to work with such a great group

of people in GALILEO

and the ability to meet

and know others in the

GALILEO

c o m m u n i t y.

Publication Information
The GALILEO Planet is published quarterly as a web-based newsletter reporting on GALILEO-related information.
Suggestions and contributions are encouraged.
Website: www.usg.edu/galileo/news.phtml E-mail: galileo.planet@usg.edu
GALILEO is an Initiative of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

For Your Information
GALILEO marketing and instructional materials: www.usg.edu/galileo/ materials/ materials_form.phtml
More about the GALILEO initiative: www.usg.edu/ galileo/
GALILEO questions and technical support: 1-888-897-3697 or email: helpdesk@usg.edu
To subscribe to GALILEO listserv, send an e-mail to listproc@gsu.edu with this message in the body: subscribe galileo first name last name
To subscribe to the GALILEO Planet, send your email address to galileo.planet@usg.edu

(GALILEO Gets a Makeover, continued from page 1)
for authenticating users, and will prompt an off-site user to supply a GALILEO password.
Although the GALILEO homepage has been changed in many ways since its launch in 1995, this is the third wholesale redesign for GALILEO. As noted by Judy Kelly, What people may not realize is that GALILEO has many different faces. Along with the standard version that most users see, there is also a text-only version, and a version for children is in development(please see related article). The new GALILEO homepage will go into production during July. Librarians are encouraged to view the new page in the GALILEO demo system; a link on the current homepage will take users to the demo site, which is can be viewed at http:/ /purl.galileo.usg.edu/demo.

GALILEO Planet Page 6